Berry Pickin'

I surprised our kids today with a little adventure.  My daughter tried as hard as she could to get it out of me where I was taking them, but I wouldn't give in.  I told them they had to wear their 'rough around' clothes, shoes...not flip flops, a hat, sunscreen, bug spray, and take long sleeve shirts and pants.  They finally guessed it when we turned down the road that had nothing but farms on both sides.

We went to Berry Patch Farms in Brighton, CO.

The first thing M wanted to know was if there would be animals there.  This picture was taken about 30 seconds after we got out of the car...

She didn't care what kind of animal it was, just so she could pet it!

We took a short wagon ride out to the raspberry fields.  I was hoping their strawberries were in season, but they won't be ready for about two more weeks.  Since the kids will be in school, we may have to brave the crowds on a weekend to pick our strawberries.

We decided to pick black raspberries first, and took off  down a row.

Yummy sweet deliciousness!

The mosquitoes were ruthless, and we were swarmed as soon as we started down the row, even with bug spray on.  M was over the picking about half-way through the black raspberries and just wanted to sit there.

So she helped by carrying the berries.

Picking went a lot faster once we got to the red raspberries.  They were much plumper and the bushes weren't as prickly.

But M was still done.  R did a great job picking berries between trying to catch all the grasshoppers he could find.  And they were everywhere!

I didn't think of it until now, but the ratio of berries in our hands is about the same as the ratio of berries we each picked.  (Except I should have about 10 berries in mine!)  Can you tell who licked her fingers the most?

Here is our flat of yummy berries.  I'm not sure if I will make jam out of them or just eat them, but they sure are tasty!  M is smiling because she gets to pet the animals now.

There were beds and rows of flowers you could pick, too.  These were so colorful, and the sky was overcast - perfect for taking pictures without harsh shadows.

We hung out for a while looking for animals to pet.  The baby pig was in the house because she had just had surgery, so we had to settle for the chickens and roosters.  I didn't get any pictures of the ducks because they took off as soon as they were spotted and aproached.  Check out this guy's posture and see if you can't hear him...

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We had a great time and look forward to our next farm adventure.  I must call ahead to make sure the pig is out, though!

K